Deviance and Deviants

William E. Thompson is Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Texas A&M University-Commerce. He is the co-author of Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology (with J. Hickey and M. Thompson, 8th edition, 2017) a leading introductory sociology textbook, and Juvenile Delinquency: A Sociological Approach (with J. Bynum, 10th edition, 2017) one of the foremost textbooks on delinquency studies. Professor Thompson has published more than forty articles in professional journals, including several that have been reprinted in textbooks and anthologies. Jennifer C. Gibbs is Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Pennsylvania State University-Harrisburg. With articles published in several journals, including Crime, Law and Social Change, Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, and Violence Against Women, Dr. Gibbs is a member of the American Society of Criminology and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

Preface xiv

About the Companion Website xvi

1 Defining Social Deviance and Deviants 1

Student Learning Outcomes 1

What is Deviance? 2

The absolutist position 3

The statistical anomaly view 3

Box 1.1: In their own words: Being deviant: A left‐hander in a right‐handed world 4

The Sociological Perspective 7

The Social Construction of Deviance 7

Norms, social control, and a range of tolerance 8

Importance of culture, time, place, and situation 11

Importance of acts, actors, and audience 13

The Role of Media in Defining Deviance 15

Moral entrepreneurs, moral crusades, and moral panics 15

Confusing crime and deviance 16

Equating diversity with deviance 17

Negative and Positive Results of Deviance 17

Negative consequences of deviance 18

Positive aspects of deviance 19

Summary 20

Outcomes Assessment 20

Key Terms and Concepts 21

2 Deviance and Social Identity 22

Student Learning Outcomes 22

Becoming Deviant 23

Deviance as a Status 23

Deviance as a master status 24

Primary and secondary deviance 27

Box 2.1: In their own words: Primary deviance: Student cheating 28

Deviant career 29

Deviance as a Role 30

Role‐taking, role embracement, role merger, and role engulfment 30

Role distance: The deviant deviant 32

Deviance, Deviants, and Stigma 32

Managing a Spoiled Identity 33

Deviance, Identity, and The Media 34

Summary 36

Outcomes Assessment 37

Key Terms and Concepts 37

3 Popular Notions and Pseudoscientific Explanations for Deviance 38

Student Learning Outcomes 38

Demonology: “The Devil Made Me Do It” 39

Box 3.1: In their own words: Interview with a twenty‐year‐old wiccan 41

Morality, Immorality, and Deviance 42

Positivism, Pseudoscience, and the Medical Model of Deviance 44

Early biological and physiological theories of deviance 44

The medical model of deviance 48

The medicalization of deviance 49

Blame it on the Media 50

Print media and deviance 50

Television, movies, video games and deviance 52

Media violence, aggression, and deviant behavior 53

The internet and the power of social media 54

Fallacies of Popular Notions and Pseudoscientific Explanations 55

Summary 56

Outcomes Assessment 56

Key Terms and Concepts 57

4 Sociological Explanations for Deviance 58

Student Learning Outcomes 58

A Functionalist Perspective on Deviance 59

Strain theories 60

Deviant subcultures 63

Strengths and weaknesses of the functionalist perspective 65

The Conflict Perspective and Deviant Behavior 66

The Marxian heritage 66

The social reality of crime and delinquency 67

Social threat theory 68

Strengths and weaknesses of the conflict perspective 68

Interactionist Theories and the Constructionist View of Deviance 69

Labeling theories 71

Social learning theories 73

Control theories 75

Strengths and weaknesses of interactionist theories 76

A Feminist Perspective on Deviance 77

The Pervasive Influence of the Media 78

Box 4.1: In their own words: By Noah Nelson 79

Summary 80

Outcomes Assessment 81

Key Terms and Concepts 81

5 Deviant Occupations 82

Student Learning Outcomes 82

The Sociology of Work 83

Occupation as Master Status 84

Illegal Occupations 86

“Immoral” Occupations: Working in the Adult Entertainment Industry 87

Working in adult films 88

Stripping/nude dancing 90

Box 5.1: In their own words: Topless dancers: Managing stigma in a deviant occupation 92

Black‐Collar Occupations: Stigmatized Occupations and “Dirty” Work 93

Stigma of handling the dead 94

Box 5.2: In their own words: Morticians and funeral directors: Handling the stigma of handling the dead 95

Deviant Occupations and the Media 96

Summary 99

Outcomes Assessment 100

Key Terms and Concepts 100

6 Sexual Deviance and Deviant Lifestyles 101

Student Learning Outcomes 101

Sex, Gender, and Human Sexuality 102

Sexual Norms and Sexual Deviance 103

Adultery/Swinging/Mate Swapping/Co‐Marital Sex 104

Box 6.1: In their own words: Swinging and “the lifestyle” 106

Naturism/nudism 107

Sex norms and homosexuality 108

Homosexuality and the law 109

Homophobia 111

Transvestism, transgenderism, and transsexuality 112

Prostitution 114

Phone sex and cybersex 116

Sexual Deviance and the Media 117

Summary 120

Outcomes Assessment 121

Key Terms and Concepts 121

7 Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse 122

Student Learning Outcomes 122

A Brief History of Alcohol in the United States 123

Alcohol Use among Social Groups in the United States 125

Becoming an Alcoholic 128

Stages of alcoholism 129

Alcoholic as a master status 131

Box 7.1: In their own words: Driving under the influence 131

Alcohol and the media 132

A Brief History of Drugs in the United States 133

Race/ethnicity and drug legislation 134

Drug‐crime connection 136

Moral panics and moral entrepreneurs 137

Women, drugs, and moral panics 139

Legal and illegal drugs 139

Substance use on campus 140

Box 7.2: In their own words: Underage drinking 141

Recreational Drug Use 142

Becoming an Addict 143

Box 7.3: In their own words: Marijuana User 145

Drugs and the Media 147

Summary 148

Outcomes Assessment 148

Key Terms and Concepts 148

8 Physical and Mental Deviance 149

Student Learning Outcomes 149

Media and the “Ideal” Body 150

Abominations of the Body 151

Physical disabilities 152

Obesity and eating disorders 157

Box 8.1: In their own words: Bulimia 159

Mental Disorders 161

Mental illness and the medical model 162

Mysteries of the mind 163

Box 8.2: In their own words: Diagnosed with bipolar disorder 164

Mental illness in the military 165

Box 8.3: In their own words: Alzheimer’s and multiple mental illnesses 166

Mental Disorders and the Media 167

One flew over the cuckoo’s nest 167

Summary 168

Outcomes Assessment 168

Key Terms and Concepts 169

9 Suicide and Self‐Harm 170

Student Learning Outcomes 170

Defining Suicide 171

Durkheim’s Classic Study 172

Egoistic suicide 173

Altruistic suicide 174

Anomic suicide 175

Fatalistic suicide 177

Criticisms of Durkheim’s work 177

Modern Theories of Suicide 178

Suicide in the United States 178

Sex and race differences in suicide 179

Age and suicide 180

Box 9.1: In their own words: Effects of suicide on family members 182

Physician‐Assisted Suicide 183

Suicide‐by‐Cop 185

Box 9.2: In their own words: Attempted suicide‐by‐cop 186

Suicide Terrorism 187

Self‐Harm 188

Box 9.3: Resources 190

Suicide and the Media 191

Summary 191

Outcomes Assessment 192

Key Terms and Concepts 192

10 Beyond the Range of Tolerance: Extreme Deviance 193

Student Learning Outcomes 193

Body Modification and Mutilation 194

Extreme tattooing 195

Surgery, implants, and amputation 197

Suspension 198

Box 10.1: In their own words: “Hooked” on suspension 198

Edgework, Risk‐Taking Behavior, and Extreme Sports 200

Extreme sports 201

Box 10.2: In their own words: “I’m not happy unless I’m in fear for my life” 204

Extreme Lifestyles 206

Minimalism 206

Survivalism and doomsday preppers 208

Extreme Deviance and the Media 209

Summary 210

Outcomes Assessment 211

Key Terms and Concepts 211

11 Violence, Street Crime, and Delinquency 212

Student Learning Outcomes 212

Measuring Crime in the United States 213

Violence 214

Murder 214

Robbery 217

Assault 219

School violence 220

Child abuse 222

Property Crimes 224

Burglary 225

Larceny‐theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson 226

Box 11.1: In their own words: Auto theft 226

Terrorism 227

Violence Against Women 229

Rape and sexual assault 229

Sexual assault on campus 230

Rape myths 230

Intimate partner violence 232

Box 11.2: In their own words: Intimate partner violence 233

Crime and the Media: The CSI Effect 234

Box 11.3: Resources for survivors of violence 234

Summary 235

Outcomes Assessment 236

Key Terms and Concepts 236

12 Corporate Crime and Elite Deviance 237

Student Learning Outcomes 237

White‐Collar Crime 238

Defining white‐collar crime 239

Measuring white‐collar crimes 242

Box 12.1: In their own words: Compilation of interviews with Bernie Sanders 244

Corporate Crime 245

Political Corruption 247

Police Misconduct 251

Elite Deviance and the Media 252

Summary 252

Outcomes Assessment 252

Key Terms and Concepts 253

13 Cyberdeviance 254

Student Learning Outcomes 254

Hacking and Online Piracy 256

System trespassing 257

Cyberpiracy 258

Cyberwarfare 259

Cyberbullying 259

Box 13.1: In their own words: Confessions of a cyberbully 262

Cyberstalking 263

Cyberdeviance and the Media 264

Summary 264

Outcomes Assessment 265

Key Terms and Concepts 265

14 Deviance, Deviants, and Social Control 266

Student Learning Outcomes 266

Informal Social Control 268

Gossip, ridicule, and shame 269

Ostracism 270

Formal Social Control 271

Neighborhood watch and vigilantism 272

Law enforcement 274

Courts and corrections 275

Social Control and Stigma 277

Media and Public Opinion 278

Judge Judy 279

Summary 281

Outcomes Assessment 281

Key Terms and Concepts 281

References 282

Glossary 302

Index 313